When I need a chemist inItalyI look for a green cross among all other luminous signs along the road. When I need stamp, my eye looks for the
large “T” and when I need cash I search for the “bancomat’ sign. In other words, I look for what I want to see. It’s so easy for our reading of the Bible
to be like this!

It was just after5:30 p.m.when the last two
hot-air-balloons lifted into the air to float south-east, over the main railway line which runs fromBolognato Padova, on towards Poggio
Renatico. We had already seen about ten of these huge “balloons” lift into the air,

What an unusual title for the third Book of the Bible! In fact, when I asked the church to find it in their Bibles
they just looked at me amazed. They’d never heard of the Gospel of Leviticus in the Old Testament. There was only the book called “ Leviticus”. Yet reading and studying
it I am increasingly convinced that it isn’t a title which distorts the significance or betrays the Word of God. On the contrary – it reveals aspects we never would have thought
of.........!

that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last
day.” Gospel of John 6 40We had just flown urgently back intoItalyfrom theUnited States. My wife was discovered to have an internal haemorrhage....

Although it might seem strange, there is nothing that can sweeten the reality of death more than the last 3 words of
this verse; “before the Lord”. Death, whenever it strikes, is always brutal
and heartbreaking.

immediate needs are for “Search and Rescue”teamsAs the first televised reports of the massive earthquake which shookHaitiflashed across the screen, so too the
various news reporters summed up the immediate need,,,

I’ve never allowed myself to see someone suffer with a sense of personal self-satisfaction for the pain which I thought was
merited. As a child my parents were glad when I was hurt because, as they often said; “You wanted to do it, so now you must pay the price of the consequences.”....

The public confession made by Tiger Woods was a rare moment of public authenticity. That it was done for secondary reasons,
as many have already speculated, we shall see in the next few weeks. But for a sportsman,

I can’t say anything else – this song by Frank Sinatra is as
moving as it is magnificent! The voice, the melody, the performance just captures my attention every time I hear it. It’s fantastic! And yet there’s something that bothers me
deeply.

These 3 words came to mind this week as I read a letter which had been published in
our local newspaper the “Resto del Carlino”. It was the title that first grabbed my attention: “Severe teachers. For my part it was only humiliati.

These two words, often expressed in latin ‘solus Christus’ sound so religious, pompous and
distant. And yet these were the words that in the 1500’s captured the minds and hearts of the Reformers giving a new hope and a new joy.

Even today, when someone says they have faith, they are made
fun of. They are called “wierdos” or some other objectionable word! But if you really think about it, who actually does live without a faith?

In our world which is normally shaped by efforts to carve out our own happiness, this is
probably the thesis which seems the least relevant. And yet, when we look into the Bible we see that man’s entire existence is to be found in God’s glory alone.

Heidi is about 50 years old with a contagious smile. She tells her story on a sweltering
Sunday afternoon as we sit in the shade of a large oak tree in the local park.“I was
born in Hungary when Communism reigned – an atheistic

Quite recently there was a major insert in our town’s
leading newspaper reporting the prosperity of mankind across the last 10 years. With a series of articles it described how our world, although still plagued with various difficulties ‘had never
been better’.

This penultimate phrase of Psalm 23, even as translated,
here is very reassuring! To think that every day of my life will be lived under the tender gaze of my loving heavenly Father is a wonderful source of consolation.

The first time I heard this phrase was when it was used by a very successful Pastor. He was a known and respected leader in the town where his church had
grown to large numbers and every Sunday the morning service was televised live. And yet he began to tell us his life story using this phrase: “born on the wrong side of the
tracks”.